Eagle Scout Peak - Back to Oz
EAGLE SCOUT PEAK-BACK TO OZ
Dr. Dennis Crockett (I wrote this for fun in 2009)
In the year 1900, author L. Frank Baum published his children’s book entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which a resourceful American farm girl named Dorothy is snatched up by a Kansas tornado and deposited in the fantastic land of Oz…with good and evil witches, a wizard, a tin man, a talking scarecrow, a cowardly lion, Munchkins and more. The tale is one of the best-known stories in American popular culture…reprinted countless times and widely translated. Thirty-nine years later, just before America’s entry into the great World War, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer adapted the tale into a musical fantasy film in Technicolor…shortening the title just a bit and calling it The Wizard of Oz. The film stars Judy Garland as Dorothy, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billy Burke and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West. Despite its age, The Wizard of Oz maintains an amazing following as a musical cinematic fable for young and old, and as one of the most beloved feature films of all time.
So, who were these five Eagle Scouts who summited Eagle Scout Peak in 2006 with that $15,000 Trimble R8 GPS Receiver? Well, they had quite an adventure and the tale is told below. As we were approaching Eagle Scout Peak and saw the summit was engulfed in high winds and lenticular clouds, Eagle Scout Michael M. said it looked like a tornado, and so began the symbolism of turning the trek into an adventure in Oz (both the altitude and the previous night’s freeze-dried lasagna still in our bellies helped our imaginations choose names from The Wizard of Oz).
2006 Cast of Characters and Places
Kansas Crescent Meadow Trailhead
Yellow Brick Road High Sierra Trail
Oz Big Arroyo Base Camp
Emerald City Eagle Scout Peak
Toto Trimble R8 GPS Receiver
Dorothy Michael M. (needs a haircut)
Tin Man Ben C. (needs oil)
Cowardly Lion Jason W. (anything but cowardly)
Scarecrow Brian K. (need I say more?)
Wizard Dr. Crockett (oldest, fattest and slowest)
Munchkins Black Bears and Mule Deer
Nikko (head winged monkey) Pudgy Marmot that lives in Oz
Minions (other winged monkeys) All the other Marmots
Wicked Witch of the West Bad Weather on Eagle Scout Peak
Glinda. . .Good Witch of the North Good Weather on Eagle Scout Peak
Auntie Em’ Mr. K (sorry Allan)
Day 1 Dorothy and Toto, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Wizard said goodbye to Auntie Em’ and took off from Kansas and trekked 17 miles along the Yellow Brick Road to Hamilton Lakes (named after Margaret Hamilton who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie…just kidding), where they all camped for the night. Dorothy, Tin Man and Scarecrow carried most of the equipment, food, the rope and climbing gear. The Wizard carried Toto. Cowardly Lion carried Toto’s 20-pound external battery. They saw a few Munchkins and lots of Minions.
Day 2 An early start. . .up at five and back on the Yellow Brick Road by six. Then, a 2500 foot climb out of Hamilton Lakes, through the rock tunnel, past Precipice Lake where the five all stood in awe below the almost 1900 foot near-vertical north face of the Emerald City (Eagle Scout Peak, in case you forgot). Next, up and over Kaweah Gap and into Oz traveled the five and Toto. . .another six miles. Looking over their shoulder in horror, they could see that the Wicked Witch of the West had showed up and started to swirl around the Emerald City. . . fat lenticular clouds and 20 mile-per-hour winds. The top 500 feet of the Emerald City were lost from view. The five camped in Oz below Emerald City. Suddenly, Nikko appeared on top of a large granite boulder, and began to whistle non-stop, warning of the perils if an attempt were to be made on the Emerald City while under the control of the Wicked Witch of the West. Nikko’s Minions joined in. However, though they could not see the top of Emerald City, all five had been there the year before and they knew the way. There was no lightning, no thunder, and no rain. . .so. . .they took a compass bearing on the summit of Black Kaweah to the east and took off west towards the Emerald City with Toto, Toto’s 20-pound external battery, rope, helmets and climbing hardware, three-layered clothing, and ten essentials. Over 1000 feet of Class 2 scrambling (means no trail), over boulder fields and tarns, back and forth across large, angled granite ramps with cascading water from snow melt, through a snow field, and then steep, sandy slopes. . .up 2 feet, slide back 1 foot…up 2 feet, slide back 1 foot…repeat 800 times. Though they could not see the summit, they climbed on. The Wicked Witch ruled the Emerald City. About 500 feet below the summit, the intrepid five transitioned into total white-out. . .40- foot visibility. Still, there was no lightning, no thunder and no rain. Just maybe the Wicked Witch of the West was a little intimidated. So, they pressed on, sticking close together so as not to lose a soul, let alone Toto and the 20-pound external battery. Suddenly, out of the grayish white, they stood across from the summit of Emerald City at about 5 p.m., a large room-size granite block with nothing but air and near 1300-foot drops on three sides. While the obviously not so intimidated Wicked Witch of the West strengthened to the now 20-foot visibility and 30 mile-per hour winds, the Wizard set up the anchors and uncoiled the rope. Dorothy and Tin Man donned harnesses and helmets (all those 5.8 to 5.10 climbs in Joshua Tree were worth it!!!), and Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow readied Toto and the 20-pound external battery and filled nylon bags with sand and pebbles. Dorothy tied in and Tin Man belayed. Dorothy made multiple trips out to 117.5 centimeters of the very tip of the Emerald City (they needed that measurement as part of the calculations), and set up Toto, buttressed with nylon sand bags so that Toto’s circumferential “blue line” was exactly even with the very tip top of the Emerald City, and confirmed with a level with bubble. Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow passed all the materials, one by one, to Dorothy, while the Wizard oversaw all movements and kept a wizardly eye on the Wicked Witch of the West. Tin Man belayed like he had instructed younger Scouts to do so at Joshua Tree. Then, the last task. . .Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow carefully passed the 20-pound external battery to Dorothy who took it up to Toto. Dorothy connected Toto to the battery, and the green indicator LED came on briefly and then went out!!! Yikes. . .what was the problem? Dorothy assessed the situation and discovered that the red wire to the battery had somehow become kinked!!! Dorothy got out a Leatherman, straightened the red wire, and reconnected. The green LED now blazed bright. Then, to the delight of all five trekkers, the yellow LED came on and blinked intermittently each time Toto picked up an orbiting satellite, miles above the earth. Hoorah!!! Toto is alive. Wizard checked his Suunto and noted that it was now 6:30 p.m., time to descend. After packing up and leaving the climbing gear on the summit, the five began their descent. Then, visibility opened to about 50 feet, then 100 feet and . . .blue sky!!! Glinda. . .Good Witch of the North showed up, and the Wicked Witch of the West was circling the drain. As the five continued their descent, Glinda. . .Good Witch of the North now ruled the Emerald City, and the Wicked Witch of the West was dead. The exhausted five stumbled into their camp in Oz under a clear starlit sky at about 9 p.m. with headlamps. Wizard was the last one in and collapsed horizontal into his tent with boots on. Dorothy, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow cooked dinner and fed Wizard in his tent. Then, all fell asleep. In their dreams, they could see Toto’s blinking yellow LED far away on the summit of the Emerald City.
Day 3 All five awoke late and cooked a wonderful breakfast of freeze-dried hash browns and pork patties under clear skies. There was lots of Tang and the retelling of the previous day’s adventure. Toto was in Emerald City and busily collecting data from multiple satellite fly overs. The afternoon was spent goofing around and swimming in the Big Arroyo. Again, they saw a few Munchkins, but no humans. Nikko and the minions whistled happily, as if to say they were glad for the five and their triumph over the Wicked Witch of the West. Then, at about 4 p.m., Dorothy, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion packed up, and trekked back up to the summit of the Emerald City, where they bivouacked for the night. They confirmed that Toto was still alive. . .the yellow LED blinking away. Scarecrow wanted to go, but the Wizard was afraid to spend the night alone in Oz. That early evening, Dorothy, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion made all the final measurements including a compass bearing from Toto to the tip top of the Emerald City and radioed the data to Wizard.
Day 4 Dorothy, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion arose at 5 a.m., disassembled Toto and trekked down to the camp in Oz and joined up with Scarecrow and Wizard. After a quick breakfast, all five headed out, back along the Yellow Brick Road. They gave farewell to the Emerald City (remember, Eagle Scout Peak) as they descended toward Hamilton Lakes and trekked 17 miles that day, camping for the night just six miles from Kansas.
Day 5. . .up at 4 a.m., and out to Kansas and to the open arms of Auntie Em’, who fed the five fresh fruit and muffins. There was even iced Starbuck’s in a bottle for Wizard. There you go, the tale of an adventurous trek of five Eagle Scouts from Troops 636 and 1210. Presently, the data that Toto collected has been downloaded into the computers at RBF Consulting (a geodesy engineering and surveying firm) in Irvine, and the exact altitude, latitude and longitude of Eagle Scout Peak has been determined. The number will remain a secret for now, known only to Wizard and RBF Consulting (the Eagle Scouts will be required to go to a geodetic website themselves to run the data and calculate the numbers).